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Friday, March 8, 2019

6 Books with Catherine Lundoff

Photo Credit: Ben Zvan

Catherine Lundoff is an award-winning writer, editor and publisher from Minneapolis, where she lives with her wife and the cats who own them. Her books include Silver Moon, Out of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories, A Day at the Inn, A Night at the Palace and Other Stories, Night’s Kiss and Crave. She is also the editor of the anthologies Haunted Hearths and Sapphic Shades and Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space) and coeditor, with JoSelle Vanderhooft, of the anthology Hellebore and Rue. In addition, she is the publisher at Queen of Swords Press, a genre fiction publisher specializing in fiction from out of this world.

1.What book are you currently reading?
Well, as per my norm, several books at the same time (not including Queen of Swords Press-related reading), but I'll pick Point of Sighs by Melissa Scott to highlight. This is the 5th volume in the author's Astreiant series. These are deftly spun mysteries with fantasy elements, featuring Pointsman Nicholas Rathe and his lover, Phillip Eslingen and their adventures in a city where astrology can determine your fate. They are beautifully written books that you can lose yourself in and I heartily recommend the entire series, including this volume

2. What upcoming book am I really excited about?

There are so many! One of them is definitely The Poison Court by Amanda Downum. This will be an indie-published sequel to her novel The Bone Palace and continues the story of Savedra Severos, King’s mistress, skilled politician and one of the best transwomen characters that I’ve read in a fantasy novel so far. I’m also excited about Wireless and Other Steam-Powered Adventures by Alex Acks, which I’m editing now and will be publishing in a couple of months. And I’m eager to read P. Djeli Clark’s The Haunting of Tram Car 015, which is a sequel to his terrific A Dead Djinn in Cairo as well as Craig Laurance Gidney’s A Spectral Hue, which is a contemporary ghost story set in an African-American multi-disciplinary artist collective. Both of those are due out this year too.

3. Is there a book you’re currently itching to reread?

I’m in the middle of a slow reread of P.C. Hodgell’s Kencyrath series so I can get caught up with the latest volumes in time for the new book to come out later on in 2019. I’ve just finished rereading God Stalk and Dark of the Moon, so Seeker’s Mask is next. It’s been rereleased a few times but this remains my favorite cover. If you are looking for a really splendid high fantasy series with a darker edge, intricate worldbuilding, a complex heroine and fascinating cast of characters, this is one of the best around.

4. How about a book you’ve changed your mind about over time – either positively or negatively?

When I was a teenager, I read and read J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings on a regular basis. The Nine were my imaginary companions and Eowyn was one of my favorite characters. They probably shaped my reading more than anything else (until I discovered Le Guin), but I’ve found that the books no longer appeal to me the same way as I’ve gotten into other kinds of fantasy. I think my tastes as well as my needs as a reader have changed and I don’t see them amongst the books that I’m excited about rereading any more.

5. What's one book, which you read as a child or young adult, that has had a lasting influence on your editing?

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas was one of my favorite books when I was growing up. I read a lot of Dumas and it and The Count of Monte Cristo have always been amongst my favorite reads. I would say that its influence shows up in my enthusiasm for a good story with highly memorable characters, heroes as well as villains, and of course, swashbuckling adventure. Along with that, I would say that I am drawn to it as a struggle against injustice, despite overwhelming odds. A lot of my favorite books touch upon this as a theme or a subtheme, when I stop to think about it.

6. And speaking of that, what's *your* latest book, and why is it awesome?

My latest book is the fantastical pirates anthology Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space), which came out in December from Queen of Swords Press. It’s awesome because it’s the first anthology from Queen of Swords Press, it includes terrific stories by authors from eight different countries, and those stories are all about pirates! There are historical pirates, pirates in outer space, capybara pirates and pirates who sail on fantastical seas, as well as pirates from a range or different time periods, gender identities and orientations. This has definitely been the most fun that I’ve had editing anthology so far.

POSTED BY: Paul Weimer. Ubiquitous in Shadow, but I’m just this guy, you know? @princejvstin.